Honeybee_ Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper - C. Marina Marchese [11]
The apiary was no more than twenty-five minutes away from my house and located somewhat off the beaten path, away from other homes. At eleven o’clock sharp I arrived at the end of a winding dirt road to find beekeepers, in full costume and with hive tools and smokers in hand, clustered to one side of an ivy-covered stone wall. This place was a pollinator’s paradise, and crocuses, daffodils, and snowdrops bloomed in every direction as far as the eye could see. The gardens were exploding with blossoms. The beekeepers greeted me, and the host, named Billy, handed me a beekeeper’s veil and hive tool: a piece of metal equipment that looks like a small crowbar. Billy told the group, “If you go to your apiary without your hive tool and smoker, go back and get them. There’s no sense in even trying to open your hive without them.” That was good old-fashioned beekeeping experience talking. He then led the group along the old stone wall and through an apple orchard—a favorite nectar-gathering spot, he said, for his apiary’s honeybees. As we walked, he showed us the black locust and tulip trees that his bees liked in addition to the apple blossoms.
The Scientific Classification of a Honeybee
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Infraclass: Neoptera
Superorder: Endopterygota
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Apinae
Tribe: Apini
Genus: Apis
In 1758, Carolus Linnaeus gave the honeybee its scientific name, Apis mellifera. In Latin it literally means, “the honey-carrying bee.” A more accurate name, A. mellifica, “the honey-making bee,” was introduced in 1761. The Linnaeus name remained because of rules dictating scientific nomenclature, but A. mellifica is occasionally used in older bee-related literature.
HIVE TOOL
Billy pointed out an old cistern filled with water specifically for the bees to drink from. Curious how bees drink water, I wandered over for a peek. Floating on wayward leaves and twigs were the honeybees, sucking up cool water with their long tongues. A few bees had fallen into the cistern and were scrambling helplessly in the water, attempting to grab hold of a floating twig or leaf for refuge. Figuring I could help, I offered my hive tool. One by one, they each took hold of my tool with all six legs, and I was able to carry them over to a floating leaf for safety.
Honeybee colonies need water as much as they need nectar and pollen, and they drink several gallons of water a day. Water is used to dilute honey for brood food and cool down an overheated hive. It is recommended that beekeepers provide a water source for their colonies. A shallow tub filled with water and placed near the hive will keep the bees from visiting a neighbor’s swimming pool or sucking water from clothes hanging out to dry on a laundry line. Placing a few strategic twigs on the water’s surface will give the bees something to land on.
As Billy’s honeybees sucked up the water in his cistern, I watched them closely and examined their little bodies.
ANATOMY OF A HONEYBEE
A honeybee’s body is made up of three parts: the head, the midsection or thorax, and the abdomen. The bee is covered from head to legs with fine hair that easily magnetizes particles of pollen. Two antennae are attached to a triangular-shaped head. The antennae are equipped with sensory hairs that allow the honeybee to touch, taste, and smell; these senses are important, since most of the honeybee’s work is done inside a dimly lit beehive.
The Most Popular Types of Honeybees
Honeybees are not native to the United States. Although bees have been in existence for more than thirty million years, they first arrived on this continent with colonists during